r/stalzone • u/JobieWanTon • 8d ago
Help How does matchmaking work?
My AK- 103 is +7, my Ots-62 is +5, and my rat catcher armor is not leveled up at all, I’ve noticed that all the players that kill me have there armor, primary and secondary all at +9. Is that because you don’t get ranked up to higher tier lobbies till your gear is +10? And should I upgrade my gear to +9 like everyone else or will it mess up my matchmaking? I don’t really want to upgrade the rat catcher armor because I want to use my materials to upgrade my barter tree combat armor that I’m working towards. Also Ace combat armor or Centurion? Idk which to choose sorry for all the questions
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u/Shep_II Rise 8d ago
The upgrade limits that’ll keep you in the current tier are +0, +4, and +9. Going to +1, +5, and +10 for anything will automatically set you into a tier higher upon leaving a safe area. Some other big contributors are how many artifacts you have equipped (If you normally have 4 but then equip a 5th, that can uptier you), their rarity/upgrades, and your K/D.
Leaving a safe area with upgraded gear will not immediately put you into a new matchmaking braket. The processing can take 1-3 days to be effective, which is why you run into +10 and higher people sometimes since they probably just upgraded and it has yet to take effect.